


The Lonely Wolves Job

by Onlymystory



Series: The Call of the Pack [3]
Category: Leverage, Teen Wolf (TV), White Collar
Genre: Bachelor Auction, Con Artists, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, Hunter Stiles Stilinski, Kidnapping, M/M, Multi, Vampires, seriously this is gonna be so much fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-09 01:58:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3231995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlymystory/pseuds/Onlymystory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He said ‘Miss Reyes. Please inform Mr. Stilinski that I look forward to our next meeting.’”<br/>“Alex wasn’t the target,” says Stiles, realizing what this actually means.<br/>Danny confirms it. “We are.”</p><p>Or the one that blends vampires, kidnapping, con-artists, and a bachelor auction into one crazy fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so, after finishing the first installment of this series and getting Danny’s little interlude done, I sat down to figure out what I wanted for the next bit. And therein lied the problem. See, there’s a couple stories I need to tell away from Beacon Hills and I need to have a smaller cast of characters to work with for them. (The other stories have crossover elements so there’s already more characters to deal with there). Plus, there’s a lot of stories about the pack being crazy awesome as teenagers and I kind of want this fic to explore them more in adulthood. So, we’re jumping ahead a couple years.
> 
> That said, if you’re new to this series, I tried to make this particular fic fairly standalone. There’s a few bits you basically have to take at face value (roles of the pack and such) but you should be able to enjoy this story without reading the others in the series. However, I do genuinely think you’ll enjoy the whole thing more if you start with “Now We Hunt”. 
> 
> And if you aren’t from the Teen Wolf fandom, the White Collar crossovers are pretty minimal. The Leverage crossover is the main focus and those characters are fairly prominent, but this is a Teen Wolf story first. You can be just a Teen Wolf fan and enjoy this without knowing the other shows, but you’ll probably struggle if you come in without liking Teen Wolf.

“Yo Alex!” Stiles calls out to the waitress on the other side of the room. “Switch me to decaf on the next round.”

Alex, a slender woman of almost 30 (though she looks more like a college student), nods as she pulls brown hair into a ponytail. She picks up the decaf coffee pot this time and moves towards Stiles and Boyd’s table. Alex eats a piece of bacon off Boyd’s plate as she refills their mugs, ignoring the look of exasperation that the cook behind the counter gives her. “Anything?” she asks in a low voice.

“An older car, 70s sedan by the sound of it has circled a few times,” answers Boyd. Their booth is in the back of the diner, unseeable from the parking lot or the street, so she’s safe to linger a moment. Both boys have menus out anyway, pointing at items and making sure their expressions give the impression that they’re asking normal questions. “I thought you didn’t like to deal with people you don’t know.”

“Yeah, why so worried?” asks Stiles. “This isn’t like you.”

Alex pretends to scribble something in her notepad. “I take referrals from time to time. Have to if I’m going to stay in the game. But when my client called and asked me to meet with a new contact, something sounded off. Like they were being forced to make the connection. I don’t like it.”

Boyd frowns. “I’m calling Erica and Danny. Whenever this contact decides to stop, I want them searching the car. We’ll see if we can get any answers.” He pauses and cocks his head, a distinctly wolf-like movement that Stiles has never really been able to cure any of the pack of. At least it doesn’t seem strange to humans. “The car parked.”

“Thanks for the refill,” says Stiles in a slightly louder voice. “And I’ll add chocolate chips to those pancakes.”

The bell on the door clangs as Alex moves back towards the kitchen and when she trips and catches herself, Stiles knows the new customer is the one they’ve been waiting on.

While Alex continues her job and makes first contact, Stiles muses over how they got here. Its been about a year and a half since the pack moved away from Beacon Hills. The bay area was, as expected, the perfect college choice and its now October of their second year in the city. Once the pack had beaten Deucalion and Danny had revealed that he was a dryad, protecting Beacon Hills became a lot easier. They studied and trained, using Stiles’ skill with runes, Lydia’s banshee power, and Danny’s wisdom to create magical borders. There were still issues--that was kind of impossible to get around since they lived on ley lines--but now the pack tended to get warnings first. They’d dealt with a family of lost trolls the week after homecoming, but it was the pixies over Thanksgiving that allowed Derek and Scott to finally figure out how to mesh their individual alpha natures. Both alphas had completely different perspectives and yet had to lead the pack as one. It hadn’t been the easiest few months.

The rest of their senior year had been fairly calm and with the exception of a run in with some goblins their first year on campus, college had been quiet as well. They’d met with the requisite representatives of the San Francisco werewolf pack. Large cities had to be fairly accepting of transitional visitors, but courtesy was always respected.

Stiles and Lydia were both at Berkeley, where despite their original intent, Stiles was actually more focused on his academic studies, while Lydia treated hers as more of a hobby and focused most of her efforts on learning her family history with her grandmother. Boyd and Danny were both at Stanford, in the same computer science program. Scott was at UC Davis, enrolled in the Veterinary program. Allison took some classes in whatever interested her at the community college, focusing her time on hunter training and being the pack representative, while Erica and Isaac tended to tag along with whichever pack member they felt like. Erica always said she didn’t know what she wanted to do, so she wasn’t going to waste time in class until she did. Stiles privately figured that she hadn’t ever really expected to be around to make decisions about college and hadn’t completely alleviated that fear yet, despite being a werewolf. Isaac had shown an interest in cooking, but had tried one semester at the community college before insisting that he couldn’t learn in that environment. Instead he experimented with dishes at the pack house, letting the pack be the judge.

Jackson was at UC Davis with Scott, and Peter traveled back and forth between the pack and Beacon Hills.

Rounding the pack out was Derek, who after a little nudging had also enrolled in Berkeley’s MBA program, as he had a bachelor’s from Columbia.

They all lived in a house Derek bought closest to Berkeley’s campus. It made for an hour drive for Boyd and Danny to get to Stanford, while Scott took the shuttle up to UC Davis for his classes. Allison usually tagged along with Scott so they always had two pack members together.

It was during the first semester that Stiles had found the diner he and Boyd were at now. Most of the pack liked diner food and Stiles studied best with ambiance noise. But as the pack focused on things that interested him, he was too easily distracted. Moon’s Kitchen (Stiles still laughed at the irony) was the perfect fit. Nice and well-kept, so it didn’t attract undue attention from unsavory types, but still too low-key to be in the tourist guides. The prices were fair and after Stiles tipped exceedingly well his first week, the staff stopped caring that he stayed for hours at a time.

Alex had taken a particular shine to him, insisting that he was one of the only people he’d met that could match wits with her. She liked Erica and Boyd too, since they had the same wicked sense of humor.

Spring semester was when Alex got brought into the know about them. Stiles was trying to get his hands on a set of rare books, with some information on particularly complicated rune design, and was finally able to make contact with a fence who had the right contacts. The meeting was set up for the diner, with appropriate symbols to flag each other down. Whether Alex or Stiles was more shocked was hard to say.

The books Stiles was trying to get were what brought the goblin problem in and though there weren’t any extra witnesses at the diner that night, they’d had to come clean to Alex.

The result had been perfect. Alex’s job as a server was merely a cover, a way for her to stay off government radar and provide an easy meeting place with clients. She used her network to find information for Stiles and artifacts for Allison or Lydia, and in return the pack worked as security when she had an item to fence. The enhanced hearing worked wonders for picking up on encroaching law enforcement or other thieves.

Alex was always very particular about her clients, which was why her unease about this one had more of them involved.

Boyd finishes texting Erica and Danny, showing Stiles the phone screen to relay the message that both were already in the area.

Stiles watches the contact, a man who has his collar up and hat pulled low. It could easily appear as though he’s blocking out the wind and rain, but the feather in the band is what Alex had as her clue. The man sits at a booth a few rows down from them, waiting for Alex.

“He’s not supernatural,” whispers Boyd.

“Good,” returns Stiles. “At least that’s one problem we won’t have to deal with.”

“I still don’t like him though. He smells wrong. Evil.”

“Evil has a smell?”

“You remember that feeling you had about Matt Daehler?”

Stiles goes still and deadly serious. “That’s the vibe you’re getting off this guy?”

Boyd nods and refocuses on the man as Alex steps closer. Her gasp and visible paling when she sees the guy’s identity has Stiles on even higher alert. Something’s wrong.

“Matthew Keller,” says Alex. “I thought you were in prison.”

“Escaped,” answers Keller, his voice slimy. Why are they always named Matt, thinks Stiles. “I’m gonna need a favor. I’ve got a couple paintings I need to unload, expenses, you know how it is. You always did get the best prices.”

“Erica and Danny are searching the car,” says Boyd in a low voice. Stiles keeps an eye on Alex and Keller but nods at Boyd to keep talking. “Erica says she can smell a woman in the car, but they can’t find her.”

“Trunk?” suggests Stiles.

“Tried that.”

“A false bottom?”

Boyd listens and nods. “Erica’s checking.” He’s quiet for a moment and then grins. “False back to the trunk between it and the backseat. Danny’s getting the woman’s body temp back up and doing that dryad thing he does that makes people get stronger. They’ll join us in a minute.”

Alex makes a noise of pain ahead of them and Stiles makes a snarling sound when he sees Keller has ahold of Alex’s wrist, trapping her with him. He’s at the booth in a flash, only briefly registering Erica and Danny coming in through the back with an older woman.

“You’re going to want to let go of her now,” insists Stiles, his grin feral as he steps into Keller’s line of sight.

“You’re going to want to stay out of other people’s business.” The man seems unfazed by Stiles, probably assuming he’s a boyfriend or something.

“Alex’s wellbeing is my business and you’re hurting her. So like I said, let go.”

Keller smirks. “Oh I think Alex will stay right here if she doesn’t want innocent people to get hurt.”

“Innocent people like Elizabeth Burke?” asks Stiles. Danny said the name a second ago, loud enough for Stiles to hear but not enough for those unpracticed with the supernatural to notice.

Keller spins his head around, not letting go of Alex, to see the aforementioned Elizabeth--who appears shaken and tired but with a cold fury in her eyes--wave at him from between Erica and Danny.

“Yeah, she won’t be a bargaining chip anymore. And now you’re going to let go of my friend and leave.”

“Who’s going to make me?” Keller runs his other hand down Alex’s arm and she shudders in revulsion.

In the blink of an eye, Stiles has both of Keller’s hands off of Alex, twisted up behind his back, and presses his own thumb into the pressure point just under Keller’s jaw. “I suppose I am. Now, a little more pressure and you’ll be vomiting profusely. Would you like to see what happens if I press very hard? Or perhaps you want to rethink your patronage of this particular establishment?”

“I’ll go,” croaks out Keller.

Stiles smiles. “Good choice. You will be leaving town as well, and you won’t contact Alex again. Find another fence.”

“Fine,” snaps Keller.

Stiles applies the slightest bit more pressure, making Keller gag, before he lets go and steps away, watching as Keller exits the building. Alex sags in relief, hugs Stiles, and goes back to work. Keller sits in his car, not leaving immediately, and while Stiles keeps an eye on him, he goes back to the booth and slides in next to Boyd.

“Keep listening until he’s gone,” instructs Stiles and the two werewolves nod. “Now, Miss Burke…”

“Mrs. Burke,” corrects the woman. “Or I suppose you can call me Elizabeth after saving my life.”

Stiles’ smile is much softer and genuine this time around. “Elizabeth then. Why did this Matthew Keller kidnap you and why would he think that was good enough leverage against Alex?”

“Because my husband and boyfriend are Keller’s greatest enemies and they’ve arrested him a few times over now. Unfortunately, no matter how good Peter and Neal are at catching Keller, the prison system isn’t nearly as good at keeping him.”

Alex shoves in next to Stiles. “You and Peter finally hooked Neal? Good for you.”

“I got tired of the pining,” jokes Elizabeth.

“Sex is probably pretty great too.”

“I won’t argue with you there.”

“Keller?” asks Stiles, redirecting them back to the point.

Elizabeth frowns. “I don’t really know. This time around he never seemed interested in going after Peter and Neal, which is always why he’s kidnapped me in the past.”

“This has happened before?” questions Boyd.

“Its practically a habit at this point.” Elizabeth smiles gratefully at the plate of food brought over by one of the other servers and continues. “I’d only catch bits of conversations he had, but it was always focused on Alex. I got the feeling that I was there for leverage on her, not on my boys.”

“You two are close then?” Erica makes a gesture between the two women.

“I owe her husband my life and Neal a few dozen favors,” answers Alex. “It’s a safe assumption on Keller’s part to think I’d help to keep Elizabeth safe.”

Stiles thinks for a moment, letting Elizabeth eat. The sound of Keller’s car starting up in the background can be heard as well. “So what we need to figure out is why Keller wanted Alex specifically. There’s plenty of other fences that wouldn’t take as much effort. Alex, you should probably stay with us until we make sure he’s out of the city officially.”

“Shit,” hisses Erica.

“What?”

“I think I know why he needed Alex.”

“You do?”  
Erica nods. “Keller just pulled out of the parking lot. Before he did, he said ‘Miss Reyes. Please inform Mr. Stilinski that I look forward to our next meeting.’”

“Alex wasn’t the target,” says Stiles, realizing what this actually means.

Danny confirms it. “We are.”

~  



	2. Chapter 2

“Why the hell would we be Keller’s targets?” asks Stiles once they’re back at the pack house. They’d waited at the diner for the local FBI branch to arrive and escort Elizabeth back to their offices where she’d be safe until flying home. By the time that happened, Alex was off her shift and was easily persuaded to stay with the rest of the pack. Stiles had sent off a message to the pack that they had an issue, to use the buddy system, and come home as soon as classes or jobs were done.

Peter had already been at the house when they arrived. Derek and Isaac had gone to meet Lydia at the school, while Jackson, Scott, and Allison were still at UC Davis. Jackson had a night class so the other two were waiting until he finished.

“Your first question should be what do you have that he wants,” suggests Alex. “Keller tends to have specific reasons for choosing his targets, so there has to be something.”

“Anyone who would come after us would be supernatural though.” Stiles thinks for a minute to be sure. “I can’t think of a hunter who would have a reason to come after me. But Keller’s human. So why us?”

“Maybe one of those books you’ve collected has substantial value?” offers Erica.

Stiles shakes his head. “They do, but not enough. Not to a human with no supernatural connections.”

Alex straightens. “Maybe its not what Keller wants.”

“How do you mean?” asks Peter.

“He once kidnapped Elizabeth because he needed money to pay off Russian mobsters.”

“And you’re thinking he owes someone else and they’re the ones who would want us,” finishes Peter.

Alex nods vigorously as Stiles’ phone starts to ring.

“Derek,” answers Stiles as the others start trading theories. “Are you on your way….whoa, whoa, slow down, who the hell is this?!” He waves furiously at the others to shut up and puts the phone on speaker.

The girl on the other end is sobbing and somewhat hysterical and Stiles can make out sirens in the distance. “I’m Heather, I’m in biochem with Lydia and...and...we were walking out of class to meet her friends.”

“Derek and Isaac?” clarifies Stiles, trying to keep his voice calm.

“I...I think so. The dark haired one goes here. He studies with Lydia sometimes in the science building’s study rooms.” She starts crying again and Stiles gently shushes her until she can start talking again. “We were all talking together and then we walked out of the building and there were these...these guys a little bit ahead and...and Derek said something was weird and it all happened so fast but they blew this purple dust in the air and then Lydia shoved me over the stairs and whispered ‘call Stiles’ and I think I broke my wrist and I was so scared...I didn’t know what to do.”

“Its okay,” says Stiles. “I’d be scared to. So you hid, then what?”

Heather sniffles a bit. In the background, the sirens are a lot closer. “I just peeked out, but they were putting them in a van and I saw Derek’s phone in the grass so I think he tossed it out on purpose. When they were gone I called the police first and then I found your name in his phone.”

“Thank fuck Derek never bothers with a lock code,” whispers Stiles before refocusing on Heather. “You did great, Heather, that was really helpful.”

“I got a picture of the license plate too,” says Heather and both Danny and Alex fist pump the air.

“That’s great, Heather, so great,” insists Stiles. “Can you text me that picture and then I want you to go ahead and tell the police everything.”

“Wh---why did Lydia say call you?”

“Probably because I’m Derek’s boyfriend and my dad’s a cop. Lydia would know that I’d want more people on this case. I don’t do very well sitting still.” He’s already making motions at Danny to get his computer out. Danny’s contributions to the pack aren’t just as a dryad. He’s gotten back into hacking lately as well. “I’m gonna go, Heather, but I promise, the police will take care of you.”

“Okay,” sobs Heather and apologizes a couple more times before hanging up.

A chime sounds a few seconds with a text alert and the picture attached. One more text follows with Heather saying she’ll leave the phone with the police so Stiles can get it back. Stiles immediately zooms in on the license plate and reads off the pertinent information to Danny.

“Figure out what you can from that,” says Stiles. “Then I want you to access our security cameras. I want to know how long Keller’s been watching us and who else was helping him.”

Danny finishes typing and passes the laptop over to Alex. “Here, this program’s going through several databases. You watch that while Boyd and I go through security feeds.”

Alex nods. The three of them work while Stiles strategizes in his head. Erica paces--she always feels most like a caged animal when she doesn’t have a physical enemy--and Peter starts banging things around in the kitchen. Isaac may be the cook of the pack but Peter is the ultimate stress baker.

By the time anyone has any answers, Peter is putting a pan of fruit tarts in the oven, Erica’s shredded a throw pillow, and Stiles has taken to chucking knives into the wall. Its probably good Derek bought the house because they’d never be getting a deposit back. Alex found an ID for the license plate and from there she’s been trying to connect the dots back to who might be in charge.

“Tell Allison to keep the boys with her at UC Davis tonight,” says Boyd suddenly.

Stiles pauses his knife throwing. “Why?”  
“I don’t think Keller knows about them.”

“He doesn’t?”

Boyd shakes his head. “From what I can tell, we started being monitored Saturday morning.”  
“And they were in Beacon Hills last weekend,” realizes Stiles. “They stayed later because Scott’s class got canceled.”

Erica grins. “And drove straight to Jackson’s class this morning. They haven’t been here in six days.”

“Exactly,” says Boyd. “They think this part of the pack is it. Which means that Keller’s crew isn’t supernatural and they haven’t bugged the phones or anything.”

“What do you want them to do?” asks Danny. “I’ve got Allison on the line.”

“Stay at a hotel.” Peter moves from the kitchen back to the couches. “The boys can stay up on their classes and then if we need them, they’ll be close enough to come back. We might need the advantage of the unknown.”

“I agree,” says Stiles, and Danny passes on the information. Allison insists on talking to the others and getting the latest updates. She promises to call later when Jackson and Scott are both with her and to keep Jackson from doing anything stupid.

“This can’t be right,” mutters Alex from her chair.

“What can’t be right?”

Alex frowns. “I traced the owner of the license plate back and the guy is one of the bodyguards for an ambassador. He has to be working an outside job but why? I’ve done cons within a few embassies. There are only a handful of decent ambassadors and she’s one of the best.”

“Who is it?” asks Peter. “Perhaps this ambassador is just better at hiding her dirty little secrets.”

“Ambassador Satiavi from France,” answers Alex. “Though I never could figure out where her name came from. It doesn’t seem French.”

“Khari Satiavi?” questions Stiles, unable to keep his voice steady.

No one was really talking but you could hear a pin drop now. “You know of this woman?” Peter is wary, and Stiles knows that Peter has already figured out that Stiles doesn’t know of her from general research, but from his parents’ past as hunters.

“Yes, Khari Satiavi,” clarifies Alex.

Stiles takes a deep breath. “That explains Keller. She wouldn’t even need to have him owe her money. She could simply enthrall him. Ambassador Satiavi is one of the oldest vampyrs in the world.”

Erica makes a face. “Why did you say it like that guy from Buffy?”  
“Because while I’m sure Joss Whedon didn’t know it, Andrew’s pronounciation of vampyre is important. A vampire, with an ‘I’ is what you’re traditionally familiar with. A spell that created the Originals, then is passed down through a blood transference. ‘That whole big sucking thing’”,  jokes Stiles, attempting a moment of humor. “Vampyre, with a ‘Y’, is a demon, not of this world, and unkillable. Think of her like the fae, you can defeat a vampyre, but you can’t kill one. Not one as old as Khari at least. Her subjects can be killed.”

“Khari and Satiavi don’t fit the same language,” says Peter, his first observance.

“Khari was her first name,” answers Stiles. “It’s an old African name meaning to rule and bring joy.”

Erica makes a face. “A vampire demon is going to bring joy.”

Danny, as the oldest of the group and one who has seen a few things in his day, though he’s happy to say demons have never really been a part of it, nudges Erica. “The meaning doesn’t say joy to others.”

Stiles nods. “Khari added Satiavi during the rule of the Roman Empire. She felt her talents were a better fit in the superstitions of what we now know as Europe. Satiavit in Latin is bloodthirst. Khari merely adjusted the name.”

“Okay, so you’ve had us studying demons since you told us about your hunting background,” comments Boyd. “Give us a comparison we know, just how bad is Khari?”

“She’s a daughter of Lilith,” answers Stiles and at that, even Peter and Danny pale.

“So what the hell does she want with a random werewolf pack from nowhere California?” Erica’s back to shredding pillows. “She can’t possibly be that hard up for a meal, you taught us that demons can’t use ley lines, and the only thing left is the fucking Nemeton but that can’t be…”

“The Nemeton,” interrupts Peter. “That’s it.”

Danny swears. “Of course.”

“What do you mean of course?” Stiles looks back and forth between the two. “Why would a demon need the Nemeton?”

“Nemetons are of an ancient magic,” explains Danny. “Its said the original Nemeton was the tree of good and evil in the garden of Eden.”

“That’s a real story?” Alex looks incredulous and she’s not the only one.

“Most stories are real,” Danny admonishes. “The trick is in finding out what parts matter. That tree wasn’t about connecting to a god, but to other realms.”

“Its a gate,” says Peter. “Khari Satiavi wants to open a gate to another dimension.”

“So now what?”

Stiles’ eyes turn cold and steely. “First we take Keller out of the picture for good. Khari won’t do anything yet, she can’t force the Nemeton to her will, so she’ll need both Derek and Scott. Scott’s safe for now, which means we’ll figure out a way to make contact with her. Then we bring our pack home.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, I'm finally updating! Short chapter I know and without a lot of forward movement, but I just wanted to set up the last few characters and get things moving again.
> 
> Um, Keller wasn't going to be out of the picture so quickly but I kind of forgot I still had to deal with him, so we're gonna just handwave over that and move on.

Keller turns out to be ridiculously simple to deal with. Chris and Allison have contacts who are familiar with Keller and are all too willing to exact their own revenge. He’s back in federal custody within a day, swearing up a storm, the entire time. The only problem is that getting Keller got Stiles, Erica, and Peter’s faces flashed on the news, which leaves only Boyd and Danny as--hopefully--unknown faces to the ambassador’s people. 

They spend the evening holed up in the pack house trying to figure out options. They have to get an audience with Satiavi, but doing so is easier said than done. There’s a charity ball she’s hosting in a week’s time, but her staff are all made up of vampires and there’s no way a pack of werewolves are getting in. Especially not ones so well known. And that’s if Satiavi’s people don’t already have all of their faces memorized anyway. 

They’re stuck, and being stuck is getting to all of them. 

“I just texted a girl I used to fence some stuff for and explained the situation,” says Alex. “She thinks she can help.”

Peter growls, low and dangerous. “Just what did you tell her?” 

“Everything,” returns Alex, not the least bit phased by Peter.

“Alex, you can’t just tell people we’re a werewolf pack, what if they’re connected to hunters?” Stiles’ voice goes a little high at the end but he can’t help it. They can’t just give out that information. Its not safe.

“Stiles.” Alex puts a hand on his arm. “I wouldn’t put any of you in danger. You’ve done a lot for me over the last year and I appreciate that. But these guys don’t help unless they know the whole story.”

“They?” questions Peter.

“Its her crew so to speak. She said you’d have to meet with them to be sure, but it sounds like the kind of thing that’s both right up their alley and the challenge they’ve been looking for.”

Stiles sighs. “Well, I don’t know how to fool a fucking vampire so sure, lets bring in some outsiders. Obviously the girl you know is a thief. What about the rest of them? What’s their shtick?”

Alex laughs. “They provide…leverage.”

* * *

 

Alex’s friends are...frankly Stiles doesn’t even know how to begin to describe them. It’s the first time he really gets why visiting packs have been so thrown by them. To him, the Hale-McCall pack may be a bit unorthodox but they can’t really be that odd. This trio though. They move separately but as one, always aware of exactly where the others are and what they’re doing, seemingly of one mind while expressing completely different opinions. Though really, they stood out from the moment they showed up at the Hale house.

“This place is wicked,” comes a voice from outside the house. “The security...I can’t even right now. And did you see the infrared cameras on the perimeter? No, of course you didn’t, because they’re that good.”

“If they’re that good, how did you see it?” Asks a girl. From Stiles’ viewpoint inside the house--one way glass is one of his favorite things--he can see that she’s slender and blonde and dressed in efficient, all black material.

“Oh I didn’t see it,” replies the young man, possibly even more excited than before. He’s wearing a cardigan over what looks like a Deadpool shirt, so Stiles is willing to grant him some preliminary approval on that basis alone. “But the knife handle in Elliot’s shoulder set caught the briefest flicker and then my scan didn’t show anything on the way up except a very low hum, kind of like a fly, but too consistent and on a much lower frequency.”

Peter levels a glare at Danny at that. He’d assured them the security was undetectable. Danny shrugs. “If he’s that good, I doubt there’s anything I could have come up with. I mean, maybe a Stranko.”

“They beat a Stranko,” interjects Alex. “Twice.”

Danny fans himself.

“Shut up, Hardison,” snaps the man that must be Elliot, bringing up the rear. His eyes don’t stop moving, flickers about the property as they watch in that ever aware mode that Allison often shows.

Stiles stands finally, brushing out a few wrinkles. They’re all a bit of a mess, that can’t be helped. After two days without hearing anything from Khari (or anyone else), the moods are more than a little stressful. Allison, Scott, and Jackson are still safe and away, but the three way separation is getting to everyone. Jackson apparently cuddled with Scott yesterday and then spent an hour bitching about Scott’s smell to Danny.

If these people can help, Stiles is more than ready to let them. He opens the door just as Hardison is reaching forward to knock, smirking slightly at catching them off guard. Never let it be said he’s not a little bit of an asshole. “You must be the leverage, come on in.”

Hardison shakes his hand and introduces himself as he comes inside, still marveling about the security. Elliot grunts his name--god he and Derek would get along perfectly, thinks Stiles, and then refuses to let the catch in his breath go any further. Elliot looks sharply at him, catching the minute hesitation, but says nothing.

“I’m Parker,” grins the last of the bunch. She’s all cat who licked up the cream and got away with it, and she lounges against the outer edge of the doorframe. “You’re interesting.”

“And in a hurry,” says Peter from behind Stiles. “Our family has been kidnapped, you’ll understand if we aren’t interested in flirting with every random hussy on the doorstep.”

Elliot snarls and pushes off the wall he’d been leaning on. Parker waves him back.

“Peter, right?” She asks, though it doesn’t sound like a question.

“Mmm.”

“I realize you have no reason to trust any of us and that you’re relying solely on Alex’s word, but I assure you, we’re very concerned about the state of your pack. Your existence supports our existence.”

“I beg your pardon?” This time Boyd is the one to speak up. “How do we support you?”

“We don’t know you,” adds Erica, lip curling. She has a tendency to feed off Peter’s moods, especially when he’s pissed off.

Hardison laughs. “You’re not the only unorthodox pack out there. Once the Multnomah Alpha met with you, she was much more gracious about us living up in Portland.”

“Pack? Alex didn’t mention that.” Stiles frowns at her.

“I had no idea,” replies Alex.

Elliot flashes blue eyes at him. “I’m the only wolf. Like she said. Unorthodox.”

“Why are your eyes blue?” Stiles asks his question in a steely tone. They all well know there are varied answers to blue eyed werewolves, but answers all the same.

“I spent a long time killing people who didn’t deserve it for an alpha who did.” It’s an ugly answer, but clearly a truthful one based on the looks his pack give each other.

“And now?”

“Someone finally killed the alpha. Took me a while longer to find my own purpose.”

Stiles doesn’t love it, but he trusts Alex and she trusts these people. “We have more important things to focus on. Parker, please, come inside so we can talk. You can do this weird cat thing inside too, I promise.”

Parker snickers, a decidedly young sound, and stretches. “I’m afraid your invitation won’t work. I need the dryad’s invitation.”

“Me? Why?” Danny walks over to join Stiles. His nose wrinkles as he gets closer. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

“I’m an Epimeliad nymph,” answers Parker. “Not sure on which parent’s side, foster care kid you see. But we can’t cross each other’s territory without specific invitation.”

Danny reaches a hand across and physically escorts her in. Unlike vampires, the verbal invitation of the owner won’t work, it has to be physical touch. Once inside, Parker finds a seat on the edge of the chair that Hardison’s in and Elliot’s leaning near and the rest make their way back into the living room.

So yeah, like Stiles said, it’s a very odd trio that Alex has brought in to help them. But help is exactly what they promised to bring and as a plan pulls itself together, Stiles starts to feel a fresh spark of hope.


End file.
